Helping the Port of London develop a national hydrogen highway network
Image published with permission of the Port of London
Authority
Hydrogen is one of a number of low carbon energy solutions that
will be critical for the UK's transition to net zero and could play
an important role in helping the maritime sector to
decarbonise.
But as with all new technologies, it's vital not only to
understand the feasibility of a hydrogen infrastructure within the
maritime sector, but also the safety.
The Port of London Authority (PLA) has been successful in
securing £1.3m of funding as part of the Smart Maritime Land
Operations Call, a Maritime Research and Innovation UK (MarRI-UK)
initiative supported by the Department for Transport (DfT), towards
a £2.1m project to explore the feasibility of developing a national
hydrogen highway network integrating land, sea and port.
How HSE is helping
HSE Research and Consultancy will join the PLA and other
partners including OS Energy, University of Strathclyde, University
of Kent, ORE Catapult, University of Birmingham and Newcastle
Marine Services, in a two year project comprising of six work
packages covering aspects such as researching energy diversity,
trialling hydrogen power generation for vessels based at the PLA's
Denton Wharf, establishing the business case for back hauling
hydrogen into central London, optimising ship design and
understanding health & safety requirements.
What will we learn?
HSE is leading a work package to define a port case study in
order to understand the safety and feasibility of a hydrogen
infrastructure. The objective will be to identify the hazards that
could be introduced as a result of transporting and using hydrogen
in a port environment. This will include determining the types of
safeguards that will need to be in place, highlighting any
knowledge gaps and making recommendations for further development.
HSE will also be a source of technical challenge and advice to
other work packages regarding safety considerations.
Back to the top